Where does Ryan Petersen work?

Ryan Petersen is Founder of Flexport and CEO at Flexport and Founder at Deliverr.

What check size does Ryan Petersen write?

Ryan Petersen typically writes checks of $2.5M – $20M.

Where did Ryan Petersen go to school?

Ryan Petersen studied at Columbia Business School (MBA); University of California, Berkeley (BA).

What podcasts and interviews feature Ryan Petersen?

Tracked appearances include "CNBC's full interview with Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen", "AI Is Eating Logistics", "Ryan Petersen: Building Flexport", and 2 more.

Ryan Petersen

InvestorUnicorn founder

Founder at Flexport · Founder at Deliverr

San Francisco, CA

Writes $2.5M – $20M checks

FoundedFlexport$8B · YC

Find your path to Ryan

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Ask Wesley Chan to introduce you to Ryan

You →Wesley · together at Flexport (2013–2026) →Ryan

Ask Jamie Chen to introduce you to Ryan

You →Jamie · 3 people · together at Flexport →Ryan

Ask Sam Okafor to introduce you to Ryan

You →Sam · 8 people · together at YC W14 →Ryan

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About

Ryan Petersen founded Flexport in 2013 and built the digital freight forwarder to a $8 billion valuation — then handed the CEO seat to an Amazon veteran in 2022, watched the company overextend, and took it back twelve months later, rescinding signed offers and cutting office space on day one. He learned trade running his family's China import business as a teenager and co-founded ImportGenius, which sold US customs data. His 2021 Twitter thread on unclogging the Long Beach port backlog drew a response from California's governor. Flexport turned profitable in 2025 and targets organic profitability in 2026; he is also a venture partner at Founders Fund.

Likely email· guessed from name + firm domain, not firm-published

r•••@foundersfund.comreveal100% confident

Invests in

AI & Machine LearningFintechLogistics & Supply ChainMobility & TransportationSaaS

Beyond investing

Founded: Co-founded ImportGenius in 2007 with his brother David and Michael Kanko, selling US customs and bill-of-lading data. Founded Flexport in 2013 and took it through Y Combinator in 2014. Ryan Petersen founded ImportGenius, a provider of transaction data for the global trade industry. Ryan Petersen founded Flexport, a global supply chain technology company.
Education: Studied at UC Berkeley (BA) Studied at Columbia Business School (MBA)
Communities: His 2021 Twitter thread on unclogging the Los Angeles/Long Beach port backlog drew a response from Governor Gavin Newsom.
Family: Married to journalist Olivia Zaleski; they have two daughters. Ryan Petersen is a father of two young children and a husband.
More: Handed the CEO role to Amazon veteran Dave Clark in 2022, became executive chairman, and returned as CEO on September 7, 2023 — immediately rescinding signed offers and cutting office space. Learned the trade running his family's import/export business, moving to China in 2005 at 24 to handle operations.

Mentioned above: the Y Combinator mafia → · the Columbia Business School mafia → · the Flexport mafia → · the Flexport mafia →

From published sources — common ground for a warm intro.

Founder at Flexport YC W14

Intro paths

Ryan went through Y Combinator (Winter 2014) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.

→

In turn, Ryan can intro founders to Flexport's investors below.

Flexport's investors · 77

137 VenturesSan Francisco 1435 CapitalSkillman 3Spoke CapitalIrvine 8VCAustin · $500K – $50M checks · since 2016 Acequia Capital (AceCap)Seattle · $100K – $5M checks Adit Ventures Management, LlcNew York Allied Venture PartnersCalgary · $100K – $350K checks Andreessen HorowitzMenlo Park · $500K – $50M checks · since 2022 Anorak VenturesLos Angeles · $25K – $400K checks Better Tomorrow VenturesSan Francisco · $500K – $4M checks Bloomberg BetaSan Francisco · $25K – $1M checks · since 2016 BoxGroupNew York · $250K – $1M checks Champion Hill Ventures$500K – $1M checks Cherubic VenturesGrand Cayman · since 2019 Cross Culture Ventures DHVCMenlo Park DST GlobalGeorge Town, Grand Cayman · since 2019 Ensemble Labs EQUIAMSan Francisco · $1M – $10M checks Ethos VCSan Francisco · $250K – $3M checks Felicis VenturesSan Francisco · $500K – $15M checks · since 2016 Fenway Summer VenturesWashington First Round CapitalSan Francisco · $100K – $20M checks · since 2016 FJ LabsNew York · $100K – $3M checks Foundation CapitalPalo Alto · $250K – $15M checks Founders FundSan Francisco · $500K – $5M checks · since 2022 FPVJackson · $100K – $5M checks Friends Family CapitalSilicon Valley Fuel CapitalCovina · $500K – $1M checks FundersClubSan Francisco · $290K checks G SquaredChicago GV (Google Ventures)Mountain View · $250K – $50M checks HouseBerkeley · $1M – $2M checks Hyde Park Venture PartnersChicago · $500K – $3M checks Initialized CapitalSan Francisco · $1M – $5M checks Inside Capital PartnersEbene JovonoCalifornia · $50K – $3M checks JuniperoMiami K2 GlobalSingapore Long Journey VenturesSan Francisco · $100K – $1M checks MaC Venture CapitalLos Angeles · $1M – $4M checks Manhattan Venture PartnersNew York Msd CapitalNew York Nelstone Ventures Next Legacy PartnersPortola Valley Night CapitalCapitola Night Owl VenturesSan Francisco Opus CapitalBurlingame Palmetto Ventures Pear VCSan Francisco · $150K – $4M checks Prologis VenturesSan Francisco · $100K – $5M checks ReshapeNew York · $100K – $2M checks Ritual CapitalMenlo Park · $100K – $500K checks Roar VenturesPalo Alto Rosecliff VenturesNew York City · $500K checks Runa CapitalLuxembourg · $500K – $5M checks Saga VenturesAustin Sherpalo VenturesMenlo Park ShopifyOttawa · since 2022 SoftBank GroupTokyo · since 2019 SoftBank Vision FundLondon · since 2019 Sound VenturesSanta Monica Sozo VenturesRedwood City Sparq Capital (SFO)Palo Alto Standard CapitalSan Francisco Susa VenturesSan Francisco · $1M – $5M checks · since 2019 SV AngelSan Francisco · $150K – $20M checks Top Shelf Equity Funds C Trajectory Capital Partners TYLT VenturesSanta Monica Ventioneers CapitalOakville Vershina CapitalNicosia Wells Fargo Strategic CapitalSt. Louis · since 2017 Winklevoss CapitalNew York · $100K – $5M checks Wolfswood Partners Wonder VenturesLos Angeles · $100K – $1.5M checks Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K checks · since 2014

Co-founders at Flexport

Ryan PetersonExecutive Officer, Director

David C. PetersenFounder

Founder at Deliverr

Intro paths

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In turn, Ryan can intro founders to Deliverr's investors below.

Deliverr's investors · 38

Co-founders at Deliverr

Michael KrakarisFounder

David C. PetersenFounder

Harish AbbottFounder

Experience

Flexport.comFounder and CEOcurrent2013 — presentSan Francisco, California

Skills & more

Online Advertising29CRM20Web Development1Content StrategyLean Startup1Market Research42Social Media Marketing15Public Relations25Marketing23Social Media13SEO11Strategic Planning24

+10 more

EntrepreneurshipBloggingCustomer ServiceStart-upsNew Business DevelopmentBusiness PlanningSalesBusiness DevelopmentPastaFly Fishing

Languages Chinese · English · French · Portuguese · Spanish

From Ryan's professional profile.

Investments

Investor

Abacus Algolia Ambition Avametric Bellabeat Better Stack BitaccessBitwiseBloom Institute of TechnologyBloomTechBondBRINC DronesButter Systems CamblyCartaCastleCensusChaldal Checkr Clear Cover Deel Deliverr Dyspatch EasyPost Echo Locker Eight Sleep Experiment Faire Fibo Hey Healthcare HoverChatJupeKimono Labs Liftigniter Little Umbrella Lori Systems LuminaiLunchclubMeadow Meight MentavaMercuryMoltin Move Loot NaborlyNearsideNewfront NuvoOwnerPadletParrotPAYZE Placement Playment PrelimPrimerPulley Repool RepriseROOMRossumSESOShipamax SketchDeck Sourceress STARK BANKStediStordStoryTerraceSupernovaTajirTeleportThe Org TruckSmarterTruePlanTrueVault Two Tap Unbabel Upcall Verifiable WareIQ Wevorce Zendar ZeroDown

Per curated public sources.

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Podcasts & interviews

featuring Ryan Petersen

CNBC's full interview with Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen

CNBC · cnbc.com

AI Is Eating Logistics

Lightcone

Ryan Petersen: Building Flexport

The Knowledge Project · fs.blog

Garry's Channel: Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen on scaling a startup from zero to $8B

Y Combinator

Ryan Petersen on Masters of Scale

Masters of Scale · mastersofscale.com

Colleagues at Flexport

Matt Mochary

Investor at Fortius Ventures

Wesley Chan

Investor at Felicis Ventures

Network5

Delian AsparouhovScout

Partner at Founders Fund and co-founder of Varda

Amin MirzadeganScout

Partner at Founders Fund

Bridget HarrisScout

Associate at Founders Fund

David LernerScout

Venture Partner at RTP Global

Eugene MarinelliScout

Operating Advisor at Conversion Capital

Investors connected to Ryan in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Ryan Petersen?: Ryan Petersen founded Flexport in 2013 and built the digital freight forwarder to a $8 billion valuation — then handed the CEO seat to an Amazon veteran in 2022, watched the company overextend, and took it back twelve months later, rescinding signed offers and cutting office space on day one. He learned trade running his family's China import business as a teenager and co-founded ImportGenius, which sold US customs data. His 2021 Twitter thread on unclogging the Long Beach port backlog drew a response from California's governor. Flexport turned profitable in 2025 and targets organic profitability in 2026; he is also a venture partner at Founders Fund.
Where does Ryan Petersen work?: Ryan Petersen is Founder of Flexport and CEO at Flexport and Founder at Deliverr.
What does Ryan Petersen invest in?: Ryan Petersen invests in AI & Machine Learning, Fintech, Logistics & Supply Chain, Mobility & Transportation, SaaS.
What check size does Ryan Petersen write?: Ryan Petersen typically writes checks of $2.5M – $20M.
What companies did Ryan Petersen found?: Ryan Petersen founded Flexport.
What companies has Ryan Petersen invested in?: Investments tracked here include Abacus, Algolia, Ambition, Avametric, Bellabeat, Better Stack, Bitaccess, Bitwise, Bloom Institute of Technology, BloomTech, Bond, BRINC Drones, and 73 more.
Where did Ryan Petersen go to school?: Ryan Petersen studied at Columbia Business School (MBA); University of California, Berkeley (BA).
What podcasts and interviews feature Ryan Petersen?: Tracked appearances include "CNBC's full interview with Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen", "AI Is Eating Logistics", "Ryan Petersen: Building Flexport", and 2 more.